It's nearly that time of year again, so what better way to pass the time than to settle down with Tales of Halloween, a seasonal anthology from ten of today's hottest horror directors that features cameos from some of the genre's giants.
As is often the case with anthologies (especially one with so many stories, like this), it's a very mixed bag—some parts work very well, other's are less effective—but for my money, this is still more fun than that other Halloween anthology of late, Trick 'r Treat, which I found frustratingly mediocre all the way through.
'80s scream Queen Adrienne Barbeau introduces the tales, starting with 'Sweet Tooth', by director Dave Parker (The Hills Run Red). An enjoyable way to kick things off, this sets the tone perfectly with a Halloween legend coming true for a young trick or treater with gory results. This is followed by 'The Night Billy Raised Hell', from Darren Lynn Bousman (Repo: The Genetic Opera), who introduces a bit of dark comedy into the mix with his amusing story of a boy who meets a demon (Barry Bostwick) that shows him the secrets of extreme pranking.
Segments 3 and 4—Adam Gierasch 's 'Trick' and Paul Solet's 'The Weak and the Wicked' are passable fare, revolving around vengeful killer kids and the summoning of a demon; Axelle Carolyn's 'Grimm Grinning Ghost' starts off promisingly, but winds up being little more than a weak attempt at providing a cheap jump scare (which I fully expected). Lucky McKee's 'Ding Dong', is without doubt the weirdest of the ten tales (and my least favourite), featuring a childless woman who turns into a witch when emotional.
'This Means War' from Andrew Kasch is kinda forgettable, although at least there's fun to be had from trying to spot numerous cameos, but things get much better with the next story 'Friday the 31st' (by Mike Mendez), which is totally bonkers and extremely gory: a deformed killer gets a taste of his own medicine after a tiny trick or treating alien possesses the body of sexy victim Dorothy, who returns from the dead to turn the tables on her attacker. The plot might not make much sense, but this one is so gleefully insane and incredibly bloody that I couldn't help but love it.
'The Ransom of Rusty Rex' is also very enjoyable: directed by Ryan Schifrin (son of movie composer Lalo, who provides the score for Tales of Halloween), it follows a pair of unfortunate kidnappers whose victim turns out to be a hideous little demon whose 'father' is only too happy to be rid of. This is followed by Bad Seed, from Neil Marshall (The Descent), which features a fun premise—a man-eating pumpkin on the rampage—but sadly ends proceedings on a rather weak note.
6.5/10, happily rounded up to 7 for that adorable Halloween-lovin' extraterrestrial.
